days of yore

Good morrow Dear Reader.

I hope the sun has risen with you and your hay rick is rat free, your cow is managing to keep producing milk from her one remaining udder from the dried straw you've been feeding her over the 'driest summer since '76' and your well hasn't run dry just yet.

Why the evocation of days gone by ? Well it does seem to me that with every passing day we appear to be coming closer to calamity day, judgement day, call it what you will. Electricity being the item foremost on my mind, as I use the stuff to extract honey, warm wax, steam clean frames, warm honey to bottle it and do a lot of this by the light of a bulb. How in the name of all that's holy will an 'average' family of 4 be able to pay, from after tax income, a fuel bill of £3.5/£4.5/£5.5k over the coming year when they are used to paying (a fair price) £500-£750 a year for their energy needs.

Even if we decided to stop supporting the Ukrainians in the war (and I'm not supporting that for one minute) the sanctions would remain and the price of gas on the world market would remain stubbornly high as long as the Nord Stream pipeline remained closed, and other pipelines diverted to 'favourable' countries. And one doesn't just build an ACME unfolding nuclear power station like they do in the cartoons do they ??

I was talking to my father when he was helping on a honey stall at the weekend (helping is actually pushing it - he had accompanied my mother to the event so he and she could go on a river trip and he was merely resting his legs in a folding camping chair at the back of my stall) and he said that for the past 40 years - as long as he'd been married (actually its 56 years but who's counting) he and mum had said we needed an energy policy that didn't pander to the CND (at the time) and the non-nuclear brigade and we should have built two new reactors for every one coming to the end end of it's life using the British designed PWR reactors that were proven and safe. I have to say I couldn't agree more.

Then a chance conversation in the week with an elderly ex-engineer who had a good rant about the anti-fracking brigade saying that they (and the media) conveniently (or ignorantly) ignored the fact that north sea oil was largely extracted using the same technique after the initial surge of oil flowing from a new well. The fact you have to 'force' it from the ground using a method not unlike hydraulic fracturing, and has been done safely for 50+ years, has been completely overlooked.

Going back to my own energy use - having had more than my fair share of troubles extracting this season (two broken extractor speed controllers) and a bee shed that is increasingly not bee proof as the wood warps and flexes with age, resulting in many midnight oil burning sessions to extract the next batch of supers, my mind was cast back to the 'old days' when honey wasn't spun, it was cut into squares and put into oil cloth and packaged in little cardboard boxes (no polythene cases or windows then) or the entire crop was crushed and strained using, one presumes, muslin or sacking, and bottled in early glass bottles with cork lids, all during the day in a lean-to full of robbing bees (no electricity to work by night) and then a big fire and cauldron to boil down and melt the wax for candles and industry.

I sometimes wonder when people hark back to the 'good old days' whether they were 'as good' for beekeepers anyway. I know I'd rather have a proper extraction system that can spin a few supers at a time in a bee-free environment and have the ability to warm/strain honey as required into clean glass jars with secure lids or buckets for longer term storage. I certainly wouldn't want the faff of rendering just wild comb, even if it were from just a few hives (skeps) and wonder how some of these 'modern' natural beekeepers put up with the inevitable mess, and lets face it, waste of honey, in the processing of the comb.

I suppose the only benefit is they do it in the spring after their colony has died out and they render some honey from some dark combs left in the hives so the bees won't find the honey....

On the stall yesterday a 'know it all' 'the bbka says it isn't allowed' beekeeper who has 3 hives said I can't label my honeycomb (sections and cut comb) as 'Raw' or the chunk honey as 'Raw'. (even though neither product is strained or processed in the conventional way). I said I could do with it as I liked as it nicely surmised the state of the comb, and I didn't claim other run/set jarred honey was 'raw' as that had been through more filtering etc etc. Her lips pursed and I could tell she would be 'having conversations' with well known local beekeepers in her group as she name checked them. I couldn't give a scoobies...This year I've seen and heard more absolute codswallop and utter excrement being spouted by ever more 'experts' who've 'done all the exams' and then it transpires that they have 2 hives and one died last year and the other has swarmed and they have managed to take 19lb of honey off the total.

Experts.

Yeah right.

Yet all the BBKA can do is raise petitions and make political rumblings and align themselves with all sorts of organisations who aren't beekeepers and simply want the beekeeping shilling to fund their own subscription services. They don't understand the real merits of beekeeping to provide pollination services or management of colonies to provide a proper surplus of honey, let alone manage the health of their bees - I shook my head in disbelief when I saw their press release about thymol earlier in the year.

As for my own season - record honey crop and still 4 apiaries to clear which I need to do before the ivy starts (it's about to burst into flower about 4 weeks early) and plans afoot for next year. Beekeeping certainly helps take your mind off the problems of the world and oneself, now if only I could get a bee-proof extraction facility sorted this week !


KR


Somerford

 

[Skinfaxi]

Hello
We are in a swamp and it will be tough to get out. To late to blame others,the bulllet is going through the church.. the government spends more than in earns in taxes. Not sustainable. To many peaple with their hands out. The whole system is going to fall. This happend in South Africa. Others will follow.. a hungry man is a angy man.. once peaple feel society has turnd its back on them, they will revert to extreme measures.
The best we can do is help ourselves and our immediate others if its needed. I think especialy in the west its going to hit hardest, this new reality.. inform yourselves of what our slave masters want. Its not a conspiracy theory ots our future.To start read united nation 2030 agenda 23 cop 23. Central bank programable digital currency linked with your social credit score.. Micro chips in your body. U.n Global packt for migration. The un say that England should and will have a population of 200 million. The western population is rapidly declining. ???,, Germany population target 500 million.. it just surprises me how a so called educated population is following the pide piper
To their own distruction. Interesting times. Go inform yourselves on common law/vs admirality eg UK plc from nation hood ..read these papers from UN.. the banks are now buying up residencial properties and renting them out..read the calergy plan,
Peace to you

 

[Blunt Spike]

I wasn’t but still stick to my point that the vast majority can’t plan.

I agree with you. Ive worked with the poorest that society has for nearly 30 years, and trust me the West Midlands has a huge number of people who are amongst the poorest in the Western world. I have never sold a jar of honey, I give them away. One family I work with is a family of 9 children. The majority of their meals are from a multi pack bag of crisps. They were the first family i gave a jar to... no resale value so i know it is used as food for the kids. It breaks my heart to see..

I dont earn a huge wage, but I plan ahead. Its not a criticism, just an acknowledgement that there but for the grace of God go I.

Can I do anything about it... sadly no. I didnt vote for this gvt and I try to do my best for those who I work with, which unfortunately isn't much unless I win the lottery.

I hope this helps to explain where I am coming from.

 

[Garry R]

I thought this was a beekeeping forum. However I was brought up to never buy anything I did not need if I couldn't afford it and still live by that. Essentials first, luxuries after. I am, though, very satisfied by a modest, thrifty lifestyle. Others are not. Some are unlucky in life and not by their own doing and I sympathise with them. They are those who should be helped.

 

[enrico]

I thought this was a beekeeping forum. However I was brought up to never buy anything I did not need if I couldn't afford it and still live by that. Essentials first, luxuries after. I am, though, very satisfied by a modest, thrifty lifestyle. Others are not. Some are unlucky in life and not by their own doing and I sympathise with them. They are those who should be helped.

It is a beekeeping forum but this is off the blog page and debate is good.

 

[rossbyjove]

All of that will be found very surprising by UK readers. But the political climate and the public understanding of economics is such that people have been conditioned to look for a catch in any alternative to the status quo. You can always declare that such arrangements won't transfer from other countries or political constitutions.
In the UK, the constant implication we sense is that privately owned business operates most efficiently. The actual fact is that politicians enable any opportunity for profit to be exploited for private gain.
When I was a kid, the phone system, postal service, water supply and sewerage, railways, electricity network.....all essential services were publicly owned. Many billions of public, man/woman hours and pounds had brought them to a state which allowed us to make economical use of them. We are now encouraged to look inwards and to admire our British way of doing things and scowl at the rest of the world. I suspect that the European part of the world, at least, looks at us with bewilderment.
Long live the King.

 

[rossbyjove]

All of that will be found very surprising by UK readers. But the political climate and the public understanding of economics is such that people have been conditioned to look for a catch in any alternative to the status quo. You can always declare that such arrangements won't transfer from other countries or political constitutions.
In the UK, the constant implication we sense is that privately owned business operates most efficiently. The actual fact is that politicians enable any opportunity for profit to be exploited for private gain.
When I was a kid, the phone system, postal service, water supply and sewerage, railways, electricity network.....all essential services were publicly owned. Many billions of public, man/woman hours and pounds had brought them to a state which allowed us to make economical use of them. We are now encouraged to look inwards and to admire our British way of doing things and scowl at the rest of the world. I suspect that the European part of the world, at least, looks at us with bewilderment.
Long live the King.

We are an nation of servile forelock tugging , lick spittles.

 

[rossbyjove]

The increases in electricity prices in the UK is literally incredible, and everyone except our Government, finds it completely abnormal and unacceptable.

I doubt anyone in 'government' actually has to pay an electric bill.
We pay it for them.
The PM worked for Shell and BP paid towards her election campaign.

 

[roche]

I doubt anyone in 'government' actually has to pay an electric bill.
We pay it for them.
The PM worked for Shell and BP paid towards her election campaign.

Is there a declaration of funding somewhere?

 

[madasafish]

It's all very simple. In 2017 the Government refused to pay Centrica the costs of just over £1B needed to repair the Rough disused oil field so it could continue to be used as gas storage. Shell promptly closed it. That cut UK gas storage down from c 14 days usage to 4 days usage.
Now roughly 60% of all UK electricity is - on AVERAGE - generated by gas fired power stations. They are relatively easy to keep on standby and switch on when renewables like sun and wind do not work - see 3 weeks last December.

With only 4 days usage in storage that means the UK has to have daily gas deliveries in huge volumes.. And has to have them continuously flowing or the electricity stops. Not an issue when gas is in surplus as it has been until Russia cut supplies.

Now the laws of supply and demand mean we will always buy gas at the highest prices in the world as we need huge volumes every day. (Most is LNG). SO the UK price for imported gas is DOUBLE what the French pay.

Now this has all been known about for a couple of decades and every one knows solar power is pretty useless in winter and wind power is erratic so it is ALL the fault of the Political Party which has been in power since 2010. (There were two Minsters for Energy in 2017 when the decision to close Rough was made and both lasted a few months and no longer are Ministers and the then Government was tied up with Brexit).

SO that's what you get when:
Government ignores long term strategic issues..(a fault of most UK Governments)
Ministers change rapidly (ditto)
Ministers don't want to think ..long or short term if it costs money.
(See also UK planning for pandemics: the last NHS minister Jeremy Hunt refused to take them seriously despite SARS and MERS outbreaks)

And if anyone suggests the solution is more renewables ,treat them with the utter contempt their ignorance deserves.

Edit: and HMG's loyal Opposition appear unaware of this or unwilling to attack the Government effectively on this issue.

 

[user 20297]

We are an nation of servile forelock tugging , lick spittles.

We are certainly have a large proportion of the population who are politically apathetic. And another large proportion ( many of who intersect with the first group) who justify the status quo because they can't see or don't approve of an alternative.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

HMG's loyal Opposition appear unaware of this or unwilling to attack the Government effectively on this issue.

what opposition - nowadays they are two cheeks of the same arse

 

[Murox]

We are certainly have a large proportion of the population who are politically apathetic. And another large proportion ( many of who intersect with the first group) who justify the status quo because they can't see or don't approve of an alternative.

yes around 68% of the voting population voted in the last election, that leaves 32% of voters preferring “None of the above”; the alternate political philosophy is indeed apathy - the biggest political achievement/development in the country ably created by successive poor governments.

 

[madasafish]

yes around 68% of the voting population voted in the last election, that leaves 32% of voters preferring “None of the above”; the alternate political philosophy is indeed apathy - the biggest political achievement/development in the country ably created by successive poor governments.

Apathy and voting for the same Party election after election are both good substitutes for having to think.

 

[The Poot]

It's all very simple. In 2017 the Government refused to pay Centrica the costs of just over £1B needed to repair the Rough disused oil field so it could continue to be used as gas storage. Shell promptly closed it. That cut UK gas storage down from c 14 days usage to 4 days usage.
Now roughly 60% of all UK electricity is - on AVERAGE - generated by gas fired power stations. They are relatively easy to keep on standby and switch on when renewables like sun and wind do not work - see 3 weeks last December.

With only 4 days usage in storage that means the UK has to have daily gas deliveries in huge volumes.. And has to have them continuously flowing or the electricity stops. Not an issue when gas is in surplus as it has been until Russia cut supplies.

Now the laws of supply and demand mean we will always buy gas at the highest prices in the world as we need huge volumes every day. (Most is LNG). SO the UK price for imported gas is DOUBLE what the French pay.

Now this has all been known about for a couple of decades and every one knows solar power is pretty useless in winter and wind power is erratic so it is ALL the fault of the Political Party which has been in power since 2010. (There were two Minsters for Energy in 2017 when the decision to close Rough was made and both lasted a few months and no longer are Ministers and the then Government was tied up with Brexit).

SO that's what you get when:
Government ignores long term strategic issues..(a fault of most UK Governments)
Ministers change rapidly (ditto)
Ministers don't want to think ..long or short term if it costs money.
(See also UK planning for pandemics: the last NHS minister Jeremy Hunt refused to take them seriously despite SARS and MERS outbreaks)

And if anyone suggests the solution is more renewables ,treat them with the utter contempt their ignorance deserves.

Edit: and HMG's loyal Opposition appear unaware of this or unwilling to attack the Government effectively on this issue.

https://www.business-live.co.uk/economic-development/rough-return-16b-plan-britains-20984442

There are plans to repurpose Rough for hydrogen? But again, it seems it’s dependent upon government support.

 

[enrico]

But then it's so easy to moan at those who ' may' be trying their hardest when you are not prepared to try it yourself! VOTE JBM

 

[Beesnaturally]

And if anyone suggests the solution is more renewables ,treat them with the utter contempt their ignorance deserves.

Edit: and HMG's loyal Opposition appear unaware of this or unwilling to attack the Government effectively on this issue.

The solution is to recognise that there are many partial solutions and no single solution. Renewables are very much part of that. Every kW generated renewably is a kW that doesn't have to generated by gas. More pertinantly (since this already understood by almost everyone, and renewable expansion as a consequence very much part of the expertly designed plan); a mass insulation program would cut much more from the energy bill, do so much faster, and do so permanantly. Its a no-brainer. Further, the Tories promised to make it happen. That is hasn't is ludicrous.

HMG's loyal opposition BTW have agreat plan, and have had it under development for 6 years or more. It goes under the name: "The Green New Deal" You can find it here: A Green Industrial Revolution

If you'd listened to Starmer's reply to Truss's statement on the energy crisis a few days ago you'd understand that he, very much unlike her, totally understands the issues, and recognises their importance.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

HMG's loyal opposition BTW have agreat plan, and have had it under development for 6 years or more. It goes under the name: "The Green New Deal" You can find it here: A Green Industrial Revolution

time you caught up and got your facts right - unfortunately the starmerhoids have chucked out the green new deal and have decided to back whatever plan the tories have

 

[Beesnaturally]

time you caught up and got your facts right - unfortunately the starmerhoids have chucked out the green new deal and have decided to back whatever plan the tories have

A Green Industrial Revolution is the same thing by a different name.

Labour backs the tories as and where the tories are hitting the right points. That's part of good opposition. You'd soon be - rightly - moaning about them if they didn't.

 

[Murox]

Apathy and voting for the same Party election after election are both good substitutes for having to think.

You're right of course, but does any political party actually want voters who think ? they might just think that the political leadership isn't worth a candle and put their X somewhere else.

 

[Beesnaturally]

You're right of course, but does any political party actually want voters who think ? they might just think that the political leadership isn't worth a candle and put their X somewhere else.

Doesn't that work both ways and cancel out?

Of course, political parties being non-sentient entities don't think at all. They can't even tell if its daytime. So really we are talking about the members, or the MPs, or leaders of the political parties who are doing the thinking. As human beings we might reasonable expect that, actually, there is a bit of a range of views. But I doubt if any of them, actually, don't want voters to think. They do want voters to think they are worth voting for.

How easily these lazy narratives unwind when you look closely.